A Zenit carrier rocket may be manufactured for the first launch under the restarted Sea Launch project in 2019, co-owner of S7 Group Natalia Fileva said on the sidelines of the Russian investment forum in Sochi on Friday.

S7 signed a contract with Sea Launch Group in 2016 on the project’s acquisition.

"The year 2019," she said, responding to a question about when the Zenit carrier rocket might be ready for the first blastoff under the Sea Launch project.

Ukraine’s Yuzhmash, the producer of Zenit launchers, earlier reported it would deliver the first two carrier rockets for the Sea Launch project in 2018.

According to Fileva, the first launch will take place as soon as a Zenit carrier is manufactured and delivered.

She added that the carrier rocket was being produced by Ukraine with Russia’s assistance while the rocket’s final assembly would take place in the United States.